1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computer systems, and in particular to a platform and architecture for providing a scalable home-control system and network.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional home-control systems are not inherently scalable. As advanced applications for multi-media, high-speed distributed Internet access, integrated applications, and the like, become commonplace, the conventional home-control systems are likely to be incapable of providing the bandwidth and flexibility required to fully support these applications.
A conventional PC architecture includes a bus structure for transferring data in parallel among a variety of functional boards. For example, the PCMCIA standard interface includes a 16 or 32 bit wide data interface, and a 26 bit wide address interface, plus various control lines. While one device is using the interface, other devices are effectively prevented from using the interface. Time division multiplexing is often used to provide the appearance of multiple simultaneous access to the interface, but if a particular transfer is time-sensitive, a time division multiplexing scheme may not provide a sufficient number of time-slots for the application. In like manner, if the use of a 24-bit word becomes commonplace in the future, the use of a 16 or 32 bit wide data interface can incur a substantial overhead inefficiency.
Conventional PC architectures also require a substantial investment in the particular interface protocol, including a substantial learning-curve to master each of the evolving standards. As such, the introduction of potentially more efficient processing technologies is often stymied by a reluctance to abandon the existing interface technologies. For example, the aforementioned 24-bit word structure may prove to be a very effective structure for RGB video applications, but the costs of adopting a corresponding 24-bit interfacing architecture may delay the adoption of this structure, particularly if a substantial investment of time or money has been made in the existing 16 or 32 bit standards. Thereafter, there will be a similar reluctance to change from this example 24-bit structure.
Similarly, conventional home-control architectures are designed to accommodate a variety of applications, some of which may have substantially different interfacing requirements. For example, a system that is designed exclusively for providing a home with distributed multimedia entertainment will have substantially different requirements than a system that is designed exclusively to provide the home with comfortable heating and air-conditioning. A conventional home-control architecture will typically be designed for the higher set of design requirements, and overdesigned for the devices having a lesser set of design requirements. When a next-generation set of devices become available, either the system will not be able to accommodate these devices, because the aforementioned higher set of requirements did not anticipate this new set of devices, or, the system will be able to accommodate the devices, thereby implying that the system had been overdesigned for the prior generation of devices.
Therefore, a need exists for a home-control platform and architecture that allows for changes in the future use of the home-control platform, without introducing a substantial design change to accommodate this future use, and without requiring a precise definition or estimation of what these future changes may entail. Such a home-control platform is characterized as a “scalable” home-control platform, having an architecture that is efficient for a wide range of applications.